Interactive charts are available from numerous software vendors. One such example is known as the “PIVOTCHART” in the “EXCEL” spreadsheet program from Microsoft Corporation. Interactive charts enable users to dynamically interact with the data, from an underlying source, directly on the interactive chart. These interactive charts enable users to perform various analyses or act as summarization tools for very large data sets. Data for interactive charts can be within the software application or in an external relational or On Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) databases. In some cases, merely selecting one of these complex data sources and creating a chart automatically enables interactivity.
Once the data source is selected a user can then specify which data fields in the data source should be shown visually in the interactive chart. There are various interactions, such as operations and navigations, that can be performed once the data fields are selected. For example in one interaction, a user can manipulate the chart by drilling down into a particular field (viewing the children) or drilling up (viewing the parents). The user can also filter data to be excluded, such as specific ranges, data points, or other attribute of the data fields. These interactions take place without the need for reselecting the range of data fields.
Data selection and interaction with “PIVOTCHART” interactive charts are done through “drop zones.” A user builds a chart by dragging and dropping one or more data items onto visual areas of the chart designated as drop zones. There are several drop zone on “EXCEL” “PIVOTCHARTs”: Page Fields (data fields present for filtering chart data), Series Fields (fields present in the legend of the chart), Category Fields (fields present on the categorical X-axis) and Data Fields (numerical fields present in the plot area).
For example, dropping a date range onto the drop-zone located at the bottom center of a chart creates an interactive chart with the date range forming the x-axis of the chart. Drop-zones provide a level of intuitive interaction with interactive charts but often confuse users as to which drop-zone to use, visually clutter the resulting chart with data labels, and leave artifacts on the chart (e.g., “Drop Data Items Here”). These artifacts made interactive charts difficult to use and undesirable for use in presentations.
Known interactive charts have had limited acceptance by users who more often prefer static charts or other means to graphically display data. While the advantages of interactive charts as data analysis tools are well appreciated, the user interface has presented obstacles to acceptance.